Biden slams ‘outrageous’ Florida six-week abortion ban

US President Joe Biden criticized Tuesday a Florida Supreme Court ruling that paved the way for an “outrageous” ban on abortion after just six weeks of pregnancy.

“Yesterday’s extreme decision puts desperately needed medical care even further out of reach for millions of women in Florida and across the South,” Biden said in a statement.

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Biden said the court’s decision was set to trigger a Republican-backed law slashing the current limit of 15 weeks to six “before many (women) even know they are pregnant.”

“It is outrageous,” he said.

Biden’s Democrats are championing the issue of reproductive rights ahead of this year’s US presidential election, in which he will face Republican former president Donald Trump.

The Florida decision however came at the same time as the court also allowed an abortion rights amendment to be on the ballot in November.

The conservative-dominated Florida Supreme Court was considering both the legality of the abortion restrictions and the proposed amendment, which would enshrine a woman’s right to abortion in the Florida constitution.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who has led a nationwide tour to highlight the abortion issue, accused hard-right populist Trump of seeking a ban across the United States.

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“Donald Trump created this health care crisis, and he has no plans to stop now,” she said in a statement, referring to Trump’s appointment of judges to the US Supreme Court who overturned the federal right to abortion in 2022.

“If Donald Trump has his way, he’ll gut abortion care in every state across the country,” she said.

© Agence France-Presse